Recapping 2020 in Numbers - THESPIKE.GG

When 2020 began, we only had an inkling of something Riot Games were developing entitled Project A, and by the end, VALORANT had a full-fledged competitive scene with prize pools reaching $100,000 USD. Dominant teams had emerged all over the globe, and while international clashes were obviously unable to happen due to the COVID-19 pandemic, teams did their best and we were able to get somewhat regular matches between Asia-Pacific teams, as well as between Brazil and LATAM South teams. First Strike produced big winners across the globe and hype only keeps building for LANs and more growth through the VALORANT Champions Tour next year. 2020 was VALORANT’s big year, so let’s take a look at the statistics telling the story of competition thus far.

Map Stats

Despite not being out at the game’s release, it is Ascent that takes the mantle as the most-played map in 2020, followed quite closely by Bind and Haven. Split is far and away the most unpopular of the three release maps, and the newcomer Icebox has been mostly shied away from with only 90 plays in total.

Weapon Stats

In the battle between Phantom and Vandal, it is the latter that takes the crown over the course of 2020. Players picked up the Vandal to begin their rounds 581868 times since gun data began being trackable in early August. The two ARs are followed by early round weapons in the Classic, Ghost, and Spectre. It is ultimately the Marshal that falls in last place, with only 5231 tracked uses.

We’ll next take a look at the players with the best statistics in North America, Europe, LATAM & Brazil, Asia-Pacific, and Oceania. To be eligible for the North American and European charts, players must have played at least 1000 tracked non-showmatch rounds, and to qualify for the remaining regions at least 400 tracked rounds are required. As mentioned, all showmatch events have been excluded, thus, the data here may differ from what is shown on a player's page. In the event of ties, the player with more rounds played has been placed ahead.

North America

Many people would call Tyson "TenZ" Ngo the best player in North America, and he shows why by taking the top spot in two of the three categories and second in the other. His 290 ACS tops the region by a great amount, a massive 34 over second-place Damion "XXiF" Cook. Speaking of XXiF, his teams haven’t been incredibly successful this year, but he put up big stats and finds a place on every chart. The final player to accomplish that is Andbox’s duelist Bradley "ANDROID" Fodor, who made the swap to VALORANT mid-year and, some unfortunate circumstances excluded, has been very successful. TSM’s Jett Matthew "WARDELL" Yu takes the top spot on the Kill/Death Ratio chart, and finally, the ADR list features Howard "Tetchra" Lebright, a player you might not expect to see this high on a chart but who has been key to Prospects’ revival.

Europe

No player appears on all of Europe’s 3 charts, but four players find themselves on two: Bogdan "sheydos" Naumov, Adil "ScreaM" Benrlitom, Dustyn "niesoW" Durnas, and Aleksander "zeek" Zygmunt. ScreaM and zeek need no introduction - the former has become Team Liquid’s star, while the latter has been reported to be joining G2 Esports. sheydos had a great run of form in the months leading up to First Strike with M3 Champions, and Team Heretics’ nieSoW, originally playing duelist before switching to Sova, has been one of the most underrated players in the region and shows it with third place in KD and fourth in ADR. Finally, it’s FunPlus Phoenix’ Pontus "Zyppan" Eek who takes the top spot in the region for ACS.

LATAM & Brazil

While Brazilian teams have been more successful when the regions have faced off against each other, Latin American players generally have them beaten out in the statistics department, with the big exception of Leonardo "mwzera" Serrati. Gamelanders Blue’ duelist has been touted as possibly the best player in the world, and certainly shows why by posting the highest ACS worldwide of players that qualify and appearing on both other charts. Agustin "nzr" Ibarra, the Sova player for the now-defunct Estral Esports VALORANT team, also claims the #1 worldwide spot in Kill/Death Ratio, and First Strike LATAM North winner Santiago "Daveeys" Galvis Ruiz takes that honor for ADR. The K/D Ratio chart features four First Strike winners in its first four spots, and though some get close, no other Brazilian player appears on the list.

Asia-Pacific

APAC’s K/D Ratio chart makes it very clear which statistic more successful teams do better in, as the top three spots are taken by players from the best team in the region, DRX, and the fourth goes to Shogo "takej" Takemori from Japan’s incredibly dominant ZETA DIVISION. Fikri "Famouz" Zaki, Hideki "Fisker" Sasaki, and Patiphan "patt" Chaiwong all appear twice, but the big individual honor goes to ahq e-Sports Club’s Lin "Milk" Chi-Hung, who claim the top spot in the region for both ACS and ADR. As an interesting fact, Reality Rift’s Wang "Jinggg" Jing Jie actually leads the region in all three statistics by massive amounts, but hasn’t played enough games to qualify. He’s certainly a player to watch out for in 2021.

Oceania

Oceania’s statistics often feature one team - EXO Clan. While the roster unfortunately disbanded at the end of the year, Exo Clan had an incredible 2020. Duelists Kyran "dizzyLife" Crombie - leading the region in KD - and Chris "pl1xx" Li show up particularly often. Dire Wolves dropped a previous roster to pick up a 5-stack of unknown players, and while the team’s First Strike placement was nothing amazing, the gamble seems to have paid off especially well in the forms of Jonathan "ninim" Slayo and Luis "LEW" H. Each appear on all three charts, with LEW leading the region in ACS and ninim in ADR. ninim also never places below second in a statistic.

VALORANT is still relatively new on the stage. 2020 was only the first year for the game, and bigger things are coming in 2021 in the Champions Tour. But these statistics give us an idea of players and storylines to watch in the upcoming year. Who will be the favourite to take everything at Champions? Let us know your thoughts!